Banshee Scream
A Banshee Scream is a power exclusive to Banshees, or human women who possess the ability to channel supernatural energies and utilize them in a way that focuses specifically on death. Much like how a Banshee's powers can vary based on how each one uses supernatural energy, Banshee screams can also be used to achieve various different effects. The primary use of a Banshee scream is as an announcement that someone has died. In this case, the scream is typically an involuntary reflex occurring as soon as the Banshee in question has received a premonition or death sense to alert them to the death. Lydia Martin, a Banshee whose powers were activated when she was viciously attacked by then-Alpha Werewolf Peter Hale at the age of seventeen. In her early days of figuring out her powers, she was not consciously controlling her scream; instead, they caused her to wail immediately and she did not always know exactly why she was doing so. As she gained more and more control over her ability to sense the death of others, she developed more and more control over it. This aspect of the scream is usually accompanied by the Banshee's death sense, which typically manifests by unconsciously drawing the Banshee toward either the site of the person's death or where their body was left if they had been killed elsewhere. For example, Lydia was drawn to the Beacon Hills Swimming Pool during a Banshee fugue state, where she ultimately found the body of a teenage lifeguard who had been strangled, had their throat slit, and had been bashed in the head in a ritualistic three-fold death; as soon as she saw the body, she immediately screamed at the top of her lungs, both out of fear and as a compulsion due to being a Harbinger of Death. ( ) A secondary use of this power is to enhance a Banshee's ability to perceive a premonition. A Banshee's premonitions are usually auditory in nature when they first come into their powers, and it can be difficult to correctly interpret what the sounds they hear are meant to tell them. As a result, a Banshee can let out a scream, which essentially drowns out all the other ambient noises (particularly the voices of other Banshees and spirits whispering in the background), allowing them to hear only what is needed to make sense of their premonition. This was first demonstrated by Lydia Martin when the McCall Pack was trying to locate Kira Yukimura, who had been kidnapped by William Barrow; Lydia had been hearing a noise that she thought might be the buzzing of flies all day, but after becoming so frustrated that she screamed, she was able to better hear the quality of the auditory premonition and realize that it was actually the buzzing of electricity, leading the pack to the Electric Substation. Finally, the third and most destructive aspect of the Banshee's scream is to channel the force of it through their hands to create a concussive burst of air. This application of the power requires training to be able to achieve, as demonstrated when Meredith Walker spent a significant amount of time trying to teach Lydia Martin how to do it. This form of the Banshee scream creates an almost telekinetic force capable of breaking through solid steel doors, throwing grown men many meters away, and shattering glass, ear drums, and even skulls at their highest level. All aspects of this power are immensely enhanced if the Banshee in question has had trephination performed on them, as evidenced by the Banshees whom Gabriel Valack experimented on during his time as Chief Medical Officer of Eichen House. Under this condition, a Banshee is capable of screaming with such force that it kills her, and already powerful Banshees such as Lydia could potentially kill anyone in her vicinity as well. A Banshee's scream can be used to amplify their voice, making it louder and deeper. This proved to be helpful in helping supernatural creatures regain control over their bodies; by calling out Jackson Whittemore's "Christian name" (also known as their first or given name), Lydia was able to force Jackson into the Werewolf form he was meant to take rather than the Kanima form he took on due to his unresolved identity issues, and Lydia was able to banish the spirit of Sebastien Valet from Mason Hewitt's body in the same manner. Users of Banshee Scream *Lenore *Lydia Martin *Meredith Walker Trivia TBA Gallery TBA Category:Powers Category:Banshees